A conventional laryngoscope includes a handle and a disposable “blade” that is releasably mounted to one end of the handle.
The blade is a curved member that is shaped and sized to be inserted into a larynx of a patient through the mouth of the patient and has a light at a forward end that assists a doctor observing the interior of the larynx.
An upper end of the handle and a rear end of the blade are formed as a clip assembly whereby the blade can be clipped onto the handle and retained in an operative position in which the blade extends at an angle of the order of 90° from the handle.
The battery or batteries for the light are conveniently stored in the handle.
Different sized blades are available to suit smaller and larger mouths of patients. Each different sized blade is formed to clip onto a single handle. In use, in situations where a doctor has a handle with no blade clipped onto the handle, the doctor will make an assessment of the required blade size for a particular patient and will then clip the selected blade onto a handle and treat the patient. In use, in situations where a blade is already clipped onto a handle and the blade size is not suitable for a particular patient, the doctor has to unclip the blade from the handle and then clip a new blade onto the handle.
The blades are regarded as single-use members and are disposed of after use.
The handle is a multiple-use member that is used repeatedly with a succession of new blades of the same or different sizes. Typically, the handle is made from stainless steel so that it can survive being used repeatedly.
One important use of laryngoscopes is in crisis situations, for example in emergency rooms in hospitals, where it is necessary for doctors to work quickly to assess patients, with such assessments often requiring the use of laryngoscopes.
In these and other situations, it is desirable for doctors to have convenient access to laryngoscopes that can be used quickly by doctors to minimise delay in assessing patients.
In these and other situations, it is particularly desirable for doctors to have convenient access to multiple-use laryngoscopes that can provide doctors with a plurality of options to use different sized blades without having to spend time replacing an existing blade on a conventional laryngoscope with a different sized blade.
The present invention provides a single use laryngoscope that can be quickly manipulated into an operative position.
The present invention also provides a multiple-use laryngoscope that can be quickly manipulated into an operative position.